enjoyed last night's return of eva lake'sartstar radio..she featured the 1st of a 3 part installment (archived here) showcasing seattle talent. last night's guest was 'm,' the editor/publisher of visual codec, an up and coming online presence documenting art related events in portland, seattle and vancouver. this looks to be a one stop shop for art lovers visiting these areas, as well as artists looking for opportunities to show their work. case in point...visual codec is hosting a competition entitled 'one shot' (eva's one of the jurors, btw) where regional artists are being asked to submit one image annonymously (digital on cd) to be considered for inclusion in a book that will be published and released nationwide. (somavenus and lizole....are you listening????)

the funny thing is, the part of last night's show that resonated with me most was when eva asked about the origin of the name 'm.' my ears perked when m explained she was adopted and her name was an amalgamation of the many names given to her throughout her life. i couldn't help but think of my own explanation behind the name baby smith. i felt as though i was listening to my long lost adopted sister. and then i came to realize even eva was 'e' for awhile. the whole name transformation for me was about identity (and yes...i'll admit...a branding of sorts. you can't easily forget that name, yah? kinda like jane doe) ....but, it was largely about reclaiming a part of myself that actually existed (and in many ways still does today) but was quickly forgotten once the adoption papers were signed.